


The Beginning of The End

by iloveromance



Category: Frasier (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-08
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 17:32:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18761116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveromance/pseuds/iloveromance
Summary: When Niles and Daphne fell in love, they thought their love would last forever. Unfortunately not every love story has a happy ending.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I hesitated about writing a Niles/Daphne breakup story because I do love them but I wanted to do something different

He thought that they had put the nightmare behind them. But little did he realized that it was just the beginning; the beginning of the end.

It was supposed to be a quiet evening. A quiet evening, a simple dinner at Le Cigar Volante, some pleasant conversation and a romantic evening that would last long after they returned home. But during the course of their dinner, one-or both of them-said the wrong thing. And it only took a fleeting moment to shatter his world.

He couldn't remember ever being so angry. He could feel his face burning with rage. He was shouting words that he'd never dare shout at anyone, let alone the woman that he loved above all others. And the worst of it was that now, less than two hours later, he couldn't even begin to fathom what was said by whom or why he'd become so angry.

His mind went back to their evening and he tried to remember how it began. But all he could remember was the way he had continued to shout at her, as though she were nothing. And Daphne, being Daphne wasn't about to let him hurt her without striking back. Each time she snapped at him, he flinched a little more, not even embarrassed by the tears in his eyes. He knew he deserved everything she threw at him, if not more, but at the time he was just so angry that his mind raced for things to say that would wound her just as she had wounded him. He couldn't even bring himself to apologize. After all, he'd done nothing wrong.

Their argument, of course, attracted the unwanted attention of the restaurant patrons; some he knew by name. But surprisingly the maître did not throw them out. Niles knew that it was the right thing to do, given the situation and the disruption that they had caused, but the decision to let them stay was to be considered a favor for his continued patronage. Niles, of course, vowed to make it up to the man wholeheartedly as soon as possible.

He hoped that once they left the restaurant the argument would be forgotten, but instead it escalated. Their shouting and arguing continued well after they paid their check and in the enclosed space of his luxurious Mercedes, The car suddenly felt like a prison; the angry words resonating to almost ear-shattering decibels.

By the time they arrived home, his heart was racing like a freight train and his forehead beaded with sweat. They entered their home at the Montana and he slammed the door so hard that the walls shook. There was a shattering of glass as something fell to the floor but neither of them bothered to see what it was.

Before Niles could take another breath, Daphne flew up the stairs, her sobs tormenting him with every step. He hesitated only for a moment before bounding up the stirs after her. But of course she was much quicker than he.

He followed close behind, almost completely out of breath. "Daphne, please! I-."

But the bedroom slammed shut, feeling like a blow to his already wounded heart.

Dejected, he stood against the closed bedroom door, his cheek pressed against the grain of the smooth wood. It was then and only then that he realized what he had done. He'd ruined everything and he was determined to make everything right again.

Daringly he turned the knob, surprised at how easily it opened. He was certain that she would have locked him out and he was grateful that she didn't. As he walked into the room, he fully expected her to scream at him, to call him names, and even to strike him physically. It would be the first time that she'd ever laid a hand on him in anger, but he was prepared for anything. He had to be.

But Daphne didn't scream at him. She didn't call him names, nor did she hit him. In fact, she wasn't even awake. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her laying on their bed, clutching a pillow sound asleep. He crossed the room and went to her, pulling the comforter over her body. And then he knelt beside her and stroked her damp cheek.

"Sweetheart I'm so sorry." He whispered. "I-I don't know what came over me or why I said those things to you. I can't even remember what we were arguing about but I will never forget the way I hurt you and I will never forgive myself. I love you and I hope you will always remember that."

He brushed away tears and kissed her cheek. "I love you… always."

Biting back a sob, he turned and walked out of the room.


	2. The Blow To His Heart

Although he'd tossed and turned all night, he finally managed to get some sleep. In the wee small hours of the morning, he undressed and climbed into bed wearing only his boxers, not to entice her into making love on a whim (although he would have loved nothing more. Their makeup lovemaking sessions were always nothing less than blissful), but because he was so worn out that he couldn't manage the energy to put on his pajamas.

He woke up early, pleased to find that she was still in bed beside him. He did not touch her, for he was determined to be as careful as possible. He knew that he needed to apologize in the most gentle of ways. And so he climbed out of bed, showered and dressed, hoping he looked as dashing as he felt. Then he hurried downstairs and prepared a delectable breakfast which he placed on a tray and added a red rose. She was sure to forgive him or at least be grateful for his efforts.

His heart raced as he pressed his hand against the doorknob and slowly opened the door.

"Room service, madam. I-."

He froze when he realized that she was no longer in the room. Curious, he sat the tray on the dresser and entered the bedroom. "Daphne?"

He could hear the shower water running but it stopped abruptly. His heart sank with disappointment for nothing was more romantic than serving his love breakfast in bed.

After a few moments, the bathroom door opened and she appeared, looking so beautiful even with her damp hair and no makeup that it took his breath away.

"Good morning my love." He went to her but his attempts to kiss her were thwarted when she turned her head. It was as though she'd stuck a knife in his heart. Never before had she resisted his attempts at romance.

"Niles." She said in a tone that made him shudder. It was almost exactly the way that Mel and Maris had uttered his name at one point or another. He swallowed hard.

"Did you sleep well?"

She said nothing and went to the closet, returning with a beautiful silk green dress.

"Oh, one of my favorites!" He said light-heartedly. "You'll look absolutely beautiful, although you always look beautiful no matter what you wear. I-."

To his confusion, she returned to the closet and then to the bed, carrying several more articles of clothing on hangers, which she laid across the bed. When she began removing the hangers, he was even more confused.

"Don't you like those clothes anymore? Sweetheart, I know you have a lot of clothes, but I've told you before, you don't have to-."

He stopped speaking when he noticed that she had left the room once more and returned with a suitcase, and another, and another…

Dear God…

"Daphne…"

She said nothing, just removed the clothes from the hangers and folded them neatly before stuffing them into the suitcases. And then she did the same with clothes from her dresser drawer, nearly cleaning out everything she owned; her lingerie, socks, nightgowns, t-shirts, jeans… the list went on and on…

"Daphne, what's happening? What are you doing?"

When the suitcases were full and the closet and dresser were empty, save for his wardrobe he rose from the bed and went to her. Once again his attempt to touch her cheek was thwarted by a slight move of her face; another stab in his heart.

"Daphne, my love… please, what's wrong? Why are you packing?"

He knew the answer and he knew it well, but it was the confirmation that struck him blind. She turned to face him and looked directly into his eyes.

"I'm leaving you Niles."


	3. The Hurtful Truth

It took him a moment to realize what she had said and had she repeated it a hundred times over he still wouldn't have believed it.

"I-I'm sorry, what?"

"You heard me!" She snapped. "I know you did! You always hear me, Niles and yet you never do! Well you can listen to me now or do what you always do, pretend like you're so much better than me!"

"Daphne, I never-."

"Of course you never! You never this and never that. Well, what about me, Niles? What about me? Don't I have feelings too?"

"Of course you do, Daphne, why-."

"Why? Why? Because if you thought I had feelings you never would have said the things you said last night! The things that hurt me more than you could ever know."

He was starting to crumple, but he would not let himself collapse, not in front of the woman he loved so deeply. "Daphne, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I tried to tell you last night, but-."

"Yes, you did. I heard you, Niles but this time your attempt to make things right won't work. I've heard it all before time and time again."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means-Oh never mind! Look I've got to go, all right?"

"Go? But where?"

"It doesn't matter. I'm leaving you Niles. I was so stupid to think this relationship would work for more than five minutes! Oh I hate myself for making this decision!"

He froze. "Wait, what are you saying?"

She sat down her handbag and stared at him. "I think you know what I'm saying, Niles."

Wordlessly he nodded. "Ah, so you wish you had married Donny? Is that what you mean?"

"This has nothing to do with Donny! This is about me! About my life! Don't you understand that?"

"I-. But you said…"

"All right if you want an explanation so badly, here's one! I wish that I'd never allowed myself to fall in love with you because I knew that this would happen! We're completely wrong for one another no matter how much we deny it! We're complete opposites and please spare me the psychological garbage about how opposites attract because it's simply not true! Not in our case anyway!"

"But I've changed, Daphne! I-."

"Sure, you've changed, Niles. You really have, but not for the better. In fact things have gotten a lot worse since we moved in together."

"Then why-."

"Because I loved you, don't you get that? I did love you, deeply in fact, but lately I feel like I've been pulled in every direction both physically and emotionally and I can't take it anymore!"

"Please, can't we talk this over? Counseling?"

Her eyes flickered with rage and it frightened him.

"Why, Niles? So you can look good for your psychiatrist friends when we walk into the office for couples counseling? So you can be the big hero? Well forget it, all right?

I wish I could just take back everything that happened so far; meeting Donny, his proposing to me, my falling in love with him and worse falling in love with a man that I had no business being with in the first place! You're my boss's brother for God's sake! It's wrong on so many levels!"

"But that doesn't matter anymore, Daphne! Our relationship is more than that! You know that as well as I!"

She grabbed the suitcases and headed for the bedroom door. "Just… leave me alone, Niles. All right? I don't want any more to do with you!"

He was breathless by the time he reached the front door and his frantic attempts to stop her were becoming useless.

"Daphne, please! Don't do this, I beg of you! I love you so much and I'm so sorry! Doesn't my love for you mean anything? Anything at all?"

She stood in the hallway, holding the suitcases in her hands. "Not anymore. Goodbye, Niles."

As he watched her walk down the hallway and enter the elevator, he crumbled to the floor, sobbing.


	4. The Meltdown

The apartment was eerily silent and for a moment all he could do was stand there. He felt as though he was having an out of body experience. Any second now, Daphne would come down the stairs in her nightgown and wrap her arms around him, pressing her lips against his cheek.

"You're dreaming, Sweetheart." She would say. "Come back to bed. I miss you."

It had happened hundreds of times before and he loved it. But this was no dream. It was a nightmare of epic proportions.

Daphne was gone.

He blinked; his surroundings suddenly blurry. And as he closed the door the tears came, slowly at first as they slid down his cheeks. But they soon got the better of him and he found himself sinking into the fainting couch, sobbing into his hands.

Sometime later when he thought he was all cried out he lifted his head. The stillness was frightening as was the oddness of the silence. He'd been in this position many times before, but Maris always came back. This was a thousand times worse. He felt as though he was downing in a vast ocean; the waves carrying him further and further away from the life and the love that he was so accustomed to. And there was absolutely no one who could save him.

Suddenly he gasped for air. He couldn't breathe. Like a rocket he shot to his feet, trying desperately to catch his breath. But no matter how hard he tried, he was still gasping. He felt as though he might faint, or die, right there in his living room. He staggered around the room, his arms stretched out like a zombie. He couldn't think, nor did he want to. If he didn't catch his breath soon, he was liable to pass out at any minute and he might never wake up. Was there any fate worse than death/ He didn't have to think about the answer because he knew. There was something much worse.

Losing Daphne.

He sat down and leaned over, moving his head as low as possible toward his knees. He forced himself to relax, the way that Frasier had taught him and miraculously it worked. His breathing slowly began to return to normal, but it left him completely and utterly exhausted. He knew that if he attempted to climb the stairs in his exhausted state and crawl into bed that he would fall into a deep slumber from which he'd never wake up. Or worse, he'd toss and turn; the memories of what had just happen torturing him over and over. The latter was the more accurate. How could he possibly sleep in that enormous bed alone, without her by his side?

He loved the way she would spoon against him, her hand resting against his chest, her leg draped lazily across his. So many nights (in her subconscious and sometimes not), her lips would find their way to his, bringing him awake. And sometimes, those kisses led to more kisses; kisses that became deeper and deeper. Soon their pajamas were strewn across the bed and their sleepy movements turned into sweet, passionate love.

He lived for nights like those with the impromptu lovemaking sessions that lasted sometimes well into the afternoon. They were moments that he feared that he would never experience again. He simply couldn't imagine never touching her, caressing her or inhaling the scent of her hair. How could he possibly live without her?

The thought shattered him and he collapsed onto the fainting couch yet again, sobbing into a cushion. He was certain that the pain he was feeling would never stop.


	5. Reaching Out

He continued to cry until his body ached and he was even more exhausted than before. He couldn't go on like this. He simply couldn't go on. But he had no idea what to do. He'd counseled patients who were in severe depressive states due to the loss of a love, either by death or by breakup many times before.

But this…

When yet again he found himself too worn out to cry, he lifted his head and looked around the room. He needed to talk to someone desperately.

Wearily he picked up the phone and began to dial. The receiver pressed to his ear, he closed his eyes, listening to the phone ring. When it rang a fourth time and then a fifth, he considered hanging up, but suddenly he heard a click and then the recorded sound of a familiar voice. And although he'd heard that voice a million times over, he found it strangely comforting.

"Hello. You've reached the home of Dr. Frasier Crane. No one is available to take your call at the moment, so please leave a message and someone will return your call as soon as possible. And remember, 'I'm listening'."

Niles flinched at the ear piercing tone that followed and he cleared his throat. It was best just to say what was on his mind, if only in a recording.

"Fr-Frasier, this is Niles. Um… Th-The reason that I'm calling is because… well, because you see… Daph… Um…"

Niles cleared his throat, but it did absolutely nothing to keep his voice from breaking. "I-I…"

He heard a click and then-

"Niles, is that you?"

"Um… yes. I-it is but-."

"I just came in from taking Dad to Duke's so that he could watch the ball game and as soon as I opened the door I heard you on my machine. Niles, are you all right?"

"No, Frasier, I'm NOT all right!" Niles shouted into the receiver. "I'll never be all right again! Damn you, why can't you understand that? Dear God, you're a psychiatrist! Must I explain everything to you?"

"Niles, what's wrong? What's happened?"

Frasier's voice was strangely calm, given the way that Niles had just torn into him and he seemed unfazed by Niles' outburst of anger.

"I-It's over, Frasier."

"What's over, Niles?"

"D-Daphne."

"What about Daphne? What's happened, Niles?"

Overcome with emotion, Niles began to cry softly. He could hear breathing on the other end of the line, but his brother said nothing, most likely waiting for Niles to calm down. But he continued to cry for several minutes. Was this ever going to stop?

"Niles, what's wrong? I'm here for you. Please tell me what's happened."

"I-I…"

"Do you want me to come over? I can meet you somewhere, anywhere you like. We can find a quiet place in the studio where no one will bother us."

"No!" Niles shouted. "I can't leave! What if… What if she…."

"Niles, please! Tell me what's wrong!"

To his horror, Niles cried harder. "Daphne's gone, Frasier! Sh-she left me. It's over!"


	6. The Comforting Visit

"Niles! Niles! Are you there?" Frasier's voice shouted through the telephone. "Answer me, please!"

But Niles could not answer, nor could he do anything to calm his emotional state. The more he thought about Daphne and the last words she'd said to him, the more distraught he became.

As he sobbed uncontrollably, he was barely aware of the way Frasier's voice became softer. And then he heard the sigh that always came when Frasier was at a loss. He'd heard it many times before.

"All right Niles, look… just… try to calm down. I'll be there soon."

When the line went dead, Niles sat numbly holding the phone in his hand and slipped further onto the fainting couch. He did his best to take Frasier's advice and attempt to calm himself but it wasn't easy. Everywhere he looked he saw her; in the little touches that Daphne had added to the apartment since she'd moved in several months before. The flowers placed here and there, the pictures of her family, her unicorn collection scattered throughout the apartment.

And, if he entered his expansive library, he knew that he would find the shelf full of romance novels, most of which he'd purchased for her, but many she'd brought with her from Frasier's. He almost laughed, remembering the boxes and boxes of books that the movers unloaded and carried into the library. It took Niles quite a while to clear a shelf for her and figure out where he was going to put the books that he'd so generously moved to make room for her romance novels. He never told her what a chore it was, of course. He wouldn't have done anything to upset her and the truth was that he was glad to do it.

He swallowed hard and rose from the fainting couch. Daringly he made his way to the library and his eyes immediately went to the shelf that was filled with titles like Majestic Love, Fate of Hearts, Love's Softest Touch, You're The One… the titles went on and on. With a trembling hand he removed a book from the shelf and glanced at the title; Windstruck. The synopsis on the back said that the book was about a woman who had fallen in love with her best friend but she was afraid to let her feelings be known.

Niles sighed. Oh the irony.

Slowly he opened the book and began to read. But it wasn't the words that captured him. It was the little notes that were written in the margins in Daphne's perfect handwriting. Words were circled, stared and even underlined, making him curious as to what it meant. The story was surprisingly interesting but before he came to the second chapter, the doorbell rang. The book still in his hand, he rose from the plush chair and went to answer the door.

"Frasier…"

"Yes, Niles. I came as soon as I-."

"What are you doing here?"

"What am I? Niles, what has gotten into you? Have you gone mad? You called me, remember?"

Niles squinted as the harsh reality came rushing back. "Oh yes, I-."

Frasier's eyes moved to the object that Niles was holding. "What's that?"

"What?"

"That. In your hand."

He looked down at the book. "Oh this…"

Frasier grabbed the book and glanced at it in disgust. "Oh Niles, what are you doing? You can't possibly be reading this nonsense!"

"Actually it's not bad."

"Oh dear God, I knew I should have gotten here sooner!" He put the book aside and steered Niles to the fainting couch and sat down beside him. "Now what's happened? You said something about Daphne."

"Yes."

Frasier sat for a minute and then his eyes grew wide. "Oh dear God, she's not…"

"No, she's fine. I hope."

"What do you mean, you hope?"

"I-She's not here."

"I can see that. Where is she?"

Niles began to cry. "I-I don't know, Frasier. I don't know!"

"What do you mean? How can you not know?"

"B-because… she's gone… Forever! She left me!"

"Niles, you mentioned that on the phone but I don't understand. What happened?"

But Niles, overcome with emotion yet again, fell against his brother, sobbing into his chest.


End file.
